Chapter Ninety-Four: Xuanzang, the White Dragon Horse

Su Hu’s sudden drop to his knees, so abrupt and so earnest, left King Zhou and Bi Gan utterly stunned.

Well, well.

That timely embrace of the situation was truly promising; the man could be taught after all.

Seeing Su Hu bow with such solemn reverence, Chu Xiaoyu fulfilled his request and explained, one by one, the main ingredients, the methods of refinement, and the precautions for making gunpowder.

At the end, Chu Xiaoyu cautioned him gravely: “If you are to refine gunpowder, the workshop must be set far away from densely populated areas. Make certain that there is no open flame or any other combustible or explosive hazard nearby. Remember this well.”

“As for the materials needed, things like sulfur can usually be found near mines. As for the rest, potassium nitrate and charcoal, charcoal is fairly easy to obtain. But potassium nitrate will take some effort to prepare and refine.”

One instruction after another came from Chu Xiaoyu, and Su Hu listened with utmost care, committing every word to memory.

Before they knew it, midnight had long passed.

Chu Xiaoyu yawned, feeling rather weary.

Just then, the purple mist within the farm began to rise with even greater intensity.

“Ah! What I heard from you tonight is worth ten years of reading. Thank you, sir, for teaching us so much about the use and refinement of gunpowder.”

King Zhou was the first to bow in gratitude to Chu Xiaoyu.

Bi Gan followed, and so did Su Hu.

If this divine weapon, gunpowder, could truly be successfully refined, then one could easily imagine what a glorious leap it would mean for the military strength of the Shang kingdom.

To sweep away the feudal states would be no difficult task.

To crush those barbarian tribes, drive them to their knees in surrender, and wipe them out entirely would be a cause for the greatest joy.

Heh heh.

Especially Western Zhou, so far away, no longer seemed worth the slightest concern.

With a single hand, it could be flattened.

King Zhou could not help imagining it with ruthless delight.

After bidding farewell, everyone departed.

Su Daji glided in gracefully and asked Chu Xiaoyu, “Since you have spared no effort in teaching my father the complete method of making this gunpowder, I suppose Western Zhou, though far away, will no longer have any chance to rise?”

Hearing this, Chu Xiaoyu frowned slightly. “By the sound of it, you still have not given up on Western Zhou?”

Su Daji shook her head. “No, not at all. Earlier, I did indeed answer the summons of Lady Nüwa and intended to aid Western Zhou in bringing harm to Shang. But now...” A bitter smile rose on her face. “I am bound by your natural formation. I cannot leave this farm for any place at all. Moreover, over the past year and more, the task Lady Nüwa once entrusted to me has faded day by day from my heart. I no longer wish to think about those matters.”

Even if she wished to, it would be useless. More thought would bring no benefit.

Within this strange and uncanny farm, what use was a fox demon who had cultivated for a thousand years? She could not even cast her demonic arts.

She could only obey and remain bound here.

Chu Xiaoyu studied Su Daji carefully, then smiled. “Heh, you are quite sensible. If you cannot resist, then learn to enjoy it.”

“Come here and massage my shoulders.”

“Yes.”

Su Daji’s eyes rippled with beauty as she complied obediently.

...

Journey to the West.

Sun Wukong came strolling along, leading the White Dragon Horse.

Xuanzang suddenly beheld the snow-white divine steed, and his expression changed again and again.

At the same time, he was shaken to the core.

In this desolate wilderness, where on earth had the monkey found such a white horse, such a celestial mount? One glance was enough to tell that this beast was no ordinary creature.

“Hey, monk, have you been waiting in a hurry? Look here, Old Sun has found you a fine white steed. Do you like it?”

Xuanzang nodded vigorously at once, overjoyed beyond measure. “Benefactor Sun, do you mean that this white horse is... for this poor monk?”

“Of course. Old Sun doesn’t ride horses, so naturally it is for you. You have no idea, this divine White Dragon Horse is my grandmaster’s treasure. I had to plead long and hard before he finally agreed to give it to me. Heh heh, monk, you must thank Old Sun properly.”

“Indeed, indeed. This poor monk thanks Benefactor Sun. You have worked hard.”

Xuanzang bowed deeply in gratitude on the spot.

“Heh heh, that is more like it. From now on, this White Dragon Horse will be your mount.”

“White Dragon Horse, you must be obedient.”

The White Dragon Horse suddenly grew restless.

To be given away as the mount of a mere mortal? What an insult to its dignity as a steed of the Heavenly Court. A human being? Weaklings.

It seemed most unwilling.

“What? You beast, you dare disobey? Are you asking for a beating from Old Sun’s staff? Behave, or I’ll thrash you.”

The White Dragon Horse’s agitation angered Sun Wukong at once, and after a round of harsh rebukes, it finally quieted down somewhat.

Xuanzang watched all this with joy in his heart.

What a highly distinctive white divine steed this was. To be called White Dragon Horse was indeed fitting; the name matched its extraordinary nature perfectly.

Unable to restrain himself, Xuanzang stepped forward and gently stroked the White Dragon Horse, his touch soft and tender, like a mother caressing her own child.

The White Dragon Horse, which had been restless moments before, suddenly calmed.

This monk is no ordinary man.

It instantly sensed Xuanzang’s aura.

The reincarnation of the Golden Cicada beneath the Great-Eared Tathagata was, of course, no ordinary mortal.

Tang Monk flesh was coveted by all. One bite was said to grant immortality. The thirty-six demons along the road, with their forty-meter blades whetted with hunger and desire, and all manner of specters and fiends, were waiting eagerly with sharpened teeth and hidden knives.

Yet the beast, which had been agitated all this time, somehow became miraculously calm after the monk’s gentle touch.

Sun Wukong found it rather curious. “Heh heh, this beast knows how to recognize its master after all. It used to be kept in the Immortal Master’s estate, where it was sometimes ridden by the Immortal Master himself. Well then, from now on, you will follow us to the Western Paradise to seek the scriptures.”

The White Dragon Horse lifted its head high, as if saying: What of going to the West? Child’s play. Hardly worth mentioning.

Having obtained this White Dragon Horse as his mount, Xuanzang was overjoyed.

With a thought, Sun Wukong produced the Universe Bag and asked Xuanzang, “Monk, I have all kinds of food in this bag, with plenty of vegetables and meat among them. What would you like to eat? Just say the word. Heh heh, from now on, you need not go begging for alms with such hardship. Old Sun’s Universe Bag is full of excellent treasures and fine things.”

Whenever the Monkey King freeloaded at the farm, he never held back.

Whatever ingredients the farm had, so long as they could be packed away, he would toss them into the Universe Bag without the slightest politeness toward Chu Xiaoyu, the Immortal Master.

Since being given the Universe Bag, every journey back and forth between the Western pilgrimage and the farm had filled Sun Wukong’s life with all kinds of newfound delight.

Seeing that strange bag conjured by Sun Wukong, as magical as a conjurer’s trick, Xuanzang’s eyes lit up.

This monkey seemed to be a walking treasure vault.

Remarkable.

What manner of monkey was he, anyway?

Where had he studied?

How could he be so astonishingly formidable?

He was the sort one could not help envying, so dazzling that a man would wish to claim every treasure for himself.